Type 94 Tankette
The Type 94 tankette '(九四式軽装甲車, ''Kyūyon-shiki keisōkōsha, literally "94 type light armored car", also known as '''TK that is abreviation of "Tokushu Keninsha" that means special tractor) was a tankette created by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Interwar. It was the most prolific Japanese tankette. History 'Development' Since the 1920s, the Imperial Japanese Army tested a variety of European light tanks, including several Renault FTs, and a decision was reached in 1929 to proceed with the domestic development of a new vehicle based largely on the Carden-Loyd Mk VI tankette design, as French and British tankettes were judged by the IJA to be too small to be practical, to address the deficiencies of wheeled armored cars. The first attempts result in the few produced Type 92 Jyu-Sokosha. The design of the Type 94 began in 1932 and give birth to an experimental model in 1934 which consisted in small tracked vehicle with a unpowered turret armed with a Type 91 6.5mm machine gun (later models carried a Type 92 7.7mm) that bore striking ressemblance with Vickers light tanks. The hull was riveted and welded, with a front-mounted engine with the driver to the right. It was reclassified as the Type 94 and entered service in 1935 as a reconnaissance vehicle. In 1937 the suspension and the small idler were replaced by a larger diameter idler wheel suspended from a rocker arm as the previous tended to throw the tracks in high speed turns. As it didn't solve the problem, the later models chassis was lenghted to fit a revised suspension and larger suspensions. The Type 94 production ended in 1937 when it was superseded by the Type 97 Te-Ke. 'Operational History' The tankettes were first used during the Second Sino-Japanese War where it was proven effective as Chinese National Revolutionary Army had only three tank battalions composed of British Vickers, German Panzer Is and CV.33 tankettes. It then served during the Nomonhan Incident in 1939. During World War II, despite being obsolete in 1941 they saw action in China, Burma, Netherlands East Indies, the Philippines, Guadalcanal and on a number of islands in the South Pacific Mandate. Some were also captured during the Battle of Okinawa in mid-1945. In 1941, the Wang Jingwei regime's army was given eighteen Type 94 tankettes. In 1943 ten Type 94 tankettes were given to the Manchukuo Imperial Army to form an armored company that was still active in August 1945 when USSR invaded Manchukuo. In Girls und Panzer 'Ribbon Warrior' Future Oni Team's Type 94 meant to participate to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the 1930s in Europe, but the changing rule of only allowing vehicles with minimum three crewmembers doomed the tankette and its team from participating. At some point one of their Type 94 was upgunned with two Type 97 20mm autocannon on both sides of the turret to give it more firepower and another had its turret removed and replaced by a remote controlled Type 97 allowing a single person to man it. The yet unknown Oni Team used their double-gunned Type 94 to train Shizuka and Rin. The most of time Centipede Team's Type 97 was crushed down but with some training they finally managed to destroy the Type 94. During the Cauldron tournament second round, Team Oni used their two modified Type 94. After nightfall, upon arrival they bring chaos into the match by eliminating consecutively two of Kebab's R35s, one of Gregor's LT vz.38, Guy Fawkes's Harry Hopkins, one of BC Freedom R35 (Moule's one), two of Polite Girls T-70s (Nonna and Klara's ones), one of Chi-Ha-Tan's Type 95 (Kinuyo's one) and one of Bonple's 7TP (Pierogi's one). After an Anti ONI Task Force was formed (composed of Centipede Team's Te-Ke, Jajka's 7TP, Rosehip's Tetrarch, Maho, Erika and Bauer's Panzer IIs, Pepperoni's CV.33, Nina's T-60, Fukuda's Ha-Go, Bordeaux's M22 Locust and Kafka's LT vz.38) the team engage a fierce firefight with the group, where one of the twin-gunned Type 94 autocannon was damage by an unknown opponent which was destroyed soon after, a night-vision scope was added on the remaining gun allowing it to snipe down Maho's tank. Once the sun rise, the two tankettes charged their opponent where they were destroyed but not without taking all the task force with them. Trivia *So far the Type 94 tank used by Team Oni is the only tank equipped with unmanned turret. *This is also the second vehicle to have its original weapon replaced with a more powerful one. The other being Anzio's CV-33 equipped with Solothurn S18/1000 20mm gun. The only difference is that Anzio's upgraded CV-33s was based on a real world field modification. Gallery Category:Tanks Category:Japanese Tanks Category:Tankettes